The black cabinets turned out wonderful and the small touches really make the bathroom look wonderful!

I made the curtain using fabric I had on hand and simply tacked them up over the window using the ‘window mistreatment’philosophy!

Since the color scheme is black, white and tan, I thought this Rolled Paper Africa Art was perfect! John David traveled to Ethiopia this past June and we have a Compassion child there so it’s a reminder of that trip, the wonderful people there and our sponsored child. I purchased it from Mercy House Kenya, a maternity home in Kenya.

And here’s another angle of the bathroom. I put a scripture verse on the wall and we bought a new soap dish that’s easier to clean!

A few weeks ago, while my husband was out of town, I kept myself occupied with several small projects! One of the projects was painting the bathroom vanity.

Since we moved into our home back in April, I’ve been thinking about a mini makeover in the bathroom. I finally decided that I wanted to paint the vanity and mirror black!

Before ::

After ::

This project really turned out better than I expected it would! I was so anxious for my husband to get home from his trip so I could show off my work! He told me probably 5 times that it looked really good and that he really liked the black!

Close up of the cabinets ::

This project cost me nothing since I used leftover black paint.

I simply cleaned the cabinets and let them dry and then painted! I applied two coats of paint. If I had to do it over again, I probably would prime the cabinet first. {I’m thrilled with how it turned out and I’m just hoping it will hold up since it wasn’t primed!}

My husband left on Sunday afternoon, leaving me alone for 3 days with Paxton {I wasn’t excited about being left all alone with a moody teething toddler!} I usually dread him leaving but I’ve found that keeping a positive attitude combined with keeping busy is the best way to make it through these days.

I made a lofty to do list and started working! I accomplished a lot by using nap time wisely and once Paxton went to bed each night, I spent time blogging. {There will be posts coming more frequently on this somewhat neglected blog!}

I started Sunday afternoon on the big project I wanted to accomplish, painting our bathroom cabinets! I painted the bathroom cabinets black. I applied the first coat Sunday afternoon and finished up Monday morning during nap time. The cabinets look great. {Pictures coming soon once we get some of the hardware updated.}

I stayed up several hours past bedtime Sunday and Monday night writing blog posts! I spent the bulk of the time writing a series titled “Our Financial Story,” which I’ll be posting once John David has a chance to read over it and gives me the okay for sharing some of the personal details.

Monday evening I made curtains for both bathrooms! The half bath has a simple white curtain and I made a black and white curtain for the bathroom! {I’m so excited about finishing this mini bathroom makeover and sharing with you!}

Tuesday morning was nice and cool so Paxton and I headed outside to vacuum and de-clutter our car! He played in the drivers seat while I vacuumed. A vacuumed and clutter free car looks so much better!

During nap time Tuesday, I finally made laundry soap. I’ve been out for a month and was lazy and bought a container of detergent! It was easier to make than I remembered and I was kicking myself for wasting money on detergent when I had the supplies for homemade detergent already at home.

I spent Tuesday afternoon lightly de-cluttering. We’re planning a yard sale in a few weeks and I want as much of the excess clutter gone as possible! I went through our hall closets, Paxton’s closet, toys and dresser and my craft chest. I have a box full ready to go out to the yard sale pile in the garage.

And I did the usual, playing with my sweet boy, changing diapers, washing diapers, doing laundry, washing dishes, going outside to play, snuggling with Paxton in the mornings and many more daily joys!

Yes, I’ve missed John David but he had to be gone so I’m glad I spent my time being productive instead of moping around missing him!

When we made an offer on our house back in March, I began planning the ‘new nursery’! Since Paxton was almost a year old, it was finally time to really personalize his space and make it a bright, happy place for a little boy!

Since I love primary colors, I decided to use some pops of red and blue in the room and needed some pops of red to go along with the blue curtains we had!

Enter this mirror:

We’ve had this mirror for years! Once upon a time it was in the living room of one of our apartmentsbut was currently sitting in the donate pile in our garage. I thought a mirror would be nice in his room and a coat or two of spray paint would give it a totally different look!

It turned out even better than I expected:

I love this red mirror! It’s such a bright and cheery color and looks great with his room!

The best part is that this cost me nothing! The mirror was from our donate pile and we already had the red spray paint. You can’t beat a free project that you love.